Arrival

09:00

Coffee and Tea will be available from 09:00.

Introduction and welcome

09:30 – 10:00

Key outcomes: introductions; aims and objectives agreed.

  • A short ‘getting to know each other’ with introductions from the course leaders and a chance to share your experience and objectives for the day with others in the group.
  • The session will also set the scene for the day and agree the collective group aims for the day.

The evolving role of the electricity system

10:00 – 10:30

Key outcomes: to help participants to understand the key drivers affecting the design of the markets and systems within which they operate, and how these drivers are changing.

  • This session will start by outlining the history of electricity markets since privatisation in the 1990s. We will discuss the evolving role of the electricity markets within our energy system, our economy, and our society. We will think about how this role has developed since the 1990s and how the ‘energy trilemma’ which identifies the tension between low cost, security of supply, and low carbon, has influenced both the physical system and the design of electricity markets over the past decade.
  • We will then consider how the recent accelerated ambitions to fully decarbonise the electricity market by 2035 (under the previous Conservative government) and 2030 (under the current Labour government) create significantly new challenges, opportunities and risks.
  • Finally, in this section, we will also consider how these overarching societal roles for the electricity system map onto the objectives of key actors and institutions, including investors, developers, suppliers, network owner, regulator and system operator.

Today’s electricity system

10:30 – 11:30

Key outcomes: help participants to understand all parts of today’s electricity market in GB, to understand how this has come about and to compare against other countries.

  • A brief lecture and Q&A session which will take us through the recent history of GB’s electricity markets and help participants to understand how the current system works and why it is designed in the way it is.
  • It will cover the influence of economic, political, social and technical considerations on the current design of the market.
  • It will include a description of the core components of the current GB electricity market including:
    • The wholesale energy market
    • Retail market
    • The role of the ‘system operator’ and the balancing mechanism
    • Ancillary service markets
    • Capacity market
    • Contracts for Difference (CfD)
    • Contracts for Difference (CfD)
  • It will compare the GB market structure to other countries with net zero ambitions and discuss the influence of economic, political, social and technical considerations on the current design of the markets internationally.

Break

11:30 – 12:00

Key outcomes: help participants to understand all parts of today’s electricity market in GB, to understand how this has come about and to compare against other countries.

Day in the life of the electricity system

12:00 – 13:00

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Key outcomes: provide participants with an opportunity to explore the operation of the electricity market in practice, and to gain a better understanding of how different aspects of the market can come together to deliver efficient outcomes.

  • We will walk through an example of the operation of the GB electricity market for an example day. This interactive activity will involve periods where participants will work in small groups to model how different market participants – renewable generators, gas power stations, battery storage operators etc. – tend to participate in the market, starting from long-term contracts several years ahead of operation, through to delivery of electricity on the day itself.
  • As part of the session, participants will be provided with a short paper and illustrative dataset which will allow them to continue learning from this activity as a follow up to the course.
  • We will conclude the activity with a discussion of the benefits and drawbacks of the current system, particularly in the context of a net zero electricity system.

Lunch

13:00 – 13:45

Market reform 1: What is being considered?

13:45 – 14:45

Key outcomes: provide participants with a clear summary of the reforms under consideration and the principal arguments being made for or against those reforms.

  • This session will review the current Market Reform debate in GB. It will focus primarily on the UK Governments Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA).
  • We will look at some of the radial reform options that are under serious consideration, including:
    • Reform of the wholesale energy market to include locational prices and centralised dispatch
    • Significant reform of CfD arrangements
    • Potential changes to the Capacity Market
    • The need to develop new market mechanisms to better support energy storage, dispatchable low carbon power stations such as gas with Carbon Capture and Storage and those powered by hydrogen
  • We will also discuss the significant risks and key uncertainties that these radical reform options may create for market participants (and for society) and discuss some reform options that take a more incremental approach.

Reform options 2: impact on investments – opportunities and risks

14:45 – 15:30

Key outcomes: enhance participants’ understanding of the significant changes that reform may create in terms of opportunities and risks for investors, developers and operators in a net zero electricity system.

  • This session builds on the previous one by using concrete examples to highlight the implications of market reform options for different types of organisations in the electricity sector.
  • We will look at investments associated with several types of assets (for example: wind farms, grid-scale batteries, and dispatchable power stations) and how the business case for each could be affected by reform.
  • Part of this session will involve small group activities allowing participants to discuss the implications with their group, before a facilitated whole-group discussion which will draw out the key points for each technology under discussion.

Break

15:30 – 15:45

Developing your own strategy

15:45 – 16:30

Key outcomes: personalise the material of the day to individual circumstances, ensure participants take ownership of their own learning and set goals and follow-ups.

  • This session allows participants to reflect on what they have learned from the perspective of their own organisations and their own career.
  • Participants will be asked to consider what their organisation’s current strategies and objectives are, how these align with societal and government ambitions for decarbonising the electricity system and to carry out a short SWOT analysis in the context of the market reform options currently under discussion.
  • Participants will then be asked to suggest key actions that their organisation may want to take in order to build on the strengths identified, address weaknesses, maximise opportunities, and mitigate risks.
  • Finally, participants will be asked to propose next steps for themselves to embed the learning from the day in their own practice and organisation. These steps will form the basis for a follow up, and participants will be asked to indicate progress against them, and to reflect on what they have learned in an online assignment one month after the day.